Law Beat: Judges and social media can be a career-ending mix - Times Union
Memo to judges: Don’t press send.
The perils of social media are leading to more complaints against judges, two of which were highlighted in the latest annual report from the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The report reminds judges that, just like the rest of the population, their opinions on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, reach third parties. And in their case, it could lead to a public admonishment, the more serious penalty of a censure, or it could be career-ending.
"As social media proliferates throughout society, the number of social-media-related complaints submitted to the commission is growing," the report stated. "The commission strongly encourages judges to remember that social media posts are fraught with potential ethical concerns. Think carefully before posting, especially when engaged in a heated discussion, and consider that a moment of reflection and restraint now may avert aggravation and disciplinary consequences later."
The New York Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics has warned since at least 2008 that changes in social media features could impact judges' ethical obligations. It is not grounds for punishment -- or even recusal from the case -- if a judge is merely "friends" on Facebook with a person with business before their court, but depending on the level of socialization and the opinions posted, it could be. Judges are advised to steer clear of social media dialogue on pending cases being discussed by lawyers, litigants and others, some of whom could be using pseudonyms.
Prior warnings aside, the commission pressed in its report that a "continuing influx of complaints in this area compels another review of the subject." It is not a defense for a judge to claim that they were only reposting or commenting on someone else's post.
Complaints do not always lead to discipline Some complaints are unfounded. Some are lodged at the wrong office (the commission, for instance, does not handle complaints against federal judges, administrative law judges, judicial hearing officers, referees or judges in New York City housing courts). Of the 1,938 new complaints filed against judges in New York last year, the commission investigated 125 of them. Another 177 investigations carried over from 2020.
But every complaint is a risk for the judge at its center. For 20 judges last year, it led to private warnings. Four judges were admonished or censured. Ten resigned while investigations into the complaints against them were pending. And 13 more judges resigned and agreed to never again seek public office.
That included now-former Schoharie Town Justice Kenneth Knutsen, who also was an associate justice of Schoharie Village Court since 2002. Knutsen posted anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim comments, displayed a bias against criminal defendants, showed a bias in favor of law enforcement and spoke about pending cases on his personal Facebook page.
One of those pending matters Knutsen opined about was the case of ex-Minneapolis police officer Sgt. Derek Chauvin, who notoriously kneeled on the neck George Floyd for nine minutes and 29 seconds on May 25, 2020, killing Floyd. Chauvin has since been convicted of murder. Knutsen's social media commentary led to an investigation by the commission. He resigned in May while scheduled to testify before the commission about his allegations.
The case of Knutsen was highlighted in the report. So was the matter of Gorham Town Justice John R. Peck, whom the commission admonished last year for posting photos of himself on Facebook -- one of them his cover photo -- in his former Ontario County sheriff’s office uniform. Peck described his appearance at a pro-police “Back the Blue” event, which drew hundreds of “likes” and comments, and praised law enforcement as the “noblest of professions.”
And Peck posted about a conversation he had with his daughter, a now-deputy he said was the fourth generation of his family to serve in law enforcement.
“Our conversations lately have centered around the media coverage of ‘bad’ officers and the lack of support for the police. I always tell her that she and her brothers and sisters in blue are still appreciated in OUR community,” Peck stated. “Today’s event, and the overwhelming number of participants is a true example of that appreciation."
Peck's indescretion was that as a judge, his posts could give the impression he was not impartial in matters involving law enforcement. He accepted his punishment.
In 2018 in Otsego County, the commission admonished Worcester Town Justice William J. Fisher who, without permission, entered a house formerly owned by relatives and then posted photos of its conditions on his wife's Facebook account. He claimed the relatives, now deceased, were "turning over in their graves." Two years later, Fisher posted the photos on his own account and kept the photos up even after promising to the commission to take them down.
The commission said Fisher, in accepting his punishment, eventually “acknowledged the impropriety of his conduct and has pledged to be more circumspect in the use of social media in the future.”
source: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Law-Beat-Judges-and-social-media-can-be-a-16977796.php
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.